| Names |
Bal Gangadhar Tilak (Birth
Name: Keshav Gangadhar Tilak) |
| Date of Birth |
July 23, 1856 – Ratnagiri District,
Maharashtra, India |
| Date of
Death |
August 01, 1920 – Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
|
Profession / Traits / Activities |
Indian nationalist, journalist, teacher, social
reformer, lawyer and an independence activist |
|
Date-wise Events / Works |
- June 22, 1897 - Inspired by
publications of infammatory articles by him, two British officers were shot and killed by the
Chapekar brothers and their other associates. Tilak
was charged with incitement to murder and sentenced to 18
months imprisonment.
- August 07, 1905 - Soon after
the partition of Bengal by the British authorities, he led
the movement boycotting the use of foreign goods.
- July 22, 1908 - He
was sentenced to 6 years on charges of sedition.
- June 16, 1914 - He was released from
jail after 6 years of imprisonment.
- April 28, 1916 - On this day,
he founded The All India Home Rule League,
with a prime objective to lead the national demand
for self-government, termed Home Rule, and to
obtain the status of a Dominion within the
British Empire.
|
| Special Achievements
/ Events |
- One of the first and strongest advocates of "Swaraj"
(self-rule).
- The Britishers labelled him as “the father of
Indian unrest”.
- He was conferred with the honorary title of "Lokmanya",
which literally means "Accepted and respected by the people
as their leader".
- His famous quote, "Swaraj is my birthright, and
I shall have it!" is well-remembered in India even
today.
- The handling of the plague epidemic
(from Bombay to Pune in late 1896, and early 1897) by he
British authorities involved tyranny and oppression of the
common public. As a result of this, Tilak took up this issue
by publishing inflammatory articles quoting the Bhagavad
Gita in criticism of the British authorities.
- He opposed the moderate views of Gopal Krishna
Gokhale, and was supported by fellow Indian
nationalists Bipin Chandra Pal in Bengal
and Lala Lajpat Rai in Punjab. They were
referred to as the Lal-Bal-Pal triumvirate.
- He also defended the two Bengali youths, Prafulla Chaki
and Khudiram Bose, who attempted to murder British
officials, as a consequence of which he was again sent to
jail.
- He, in his paper Kesari, defended the
convicted revolutionaries and called for immediate Swaraj or
self-rule. The Government swiftly arrested him for sedition
and sent him to jail in Mandalay, Burma from 1908 to 1914.
While imprisoned, he continued to read and write, further
developing his ideas on the Indian nationalist movement.
While in the prison he wrote the most-famous Gita
Rahasya. Many copies of which were sold, and the
money was donated for the freedom fighting. He was
released from jail on June 16, 1914.
|
|
Commemorations |
- The Kesari is still published
as a daily newspaper in Marathi.
- The Deccan Education Society that Tilak
founded with others in the 1880s still runs much respected
Institutions in Pune like the Fergusson College.
- The Public Ganesh festival (Ganeshotsav)
has become a central part of the culture of Marathi Hindu
communities throughout the world.
- Because of Tilak's efforts, Shivaji,
the founder of Maratha Empire is the only figure from that
era revered by contemporary Marathi masses and Hindu
nationalist parties like the Shivsena.
- The Swadeshi movement started by Tilak
at the beginning of the 20th century became part of the
Independence movement until that goal was achieved in 1947.
- Tilak Smarak Ranga Mandir, a theatre
auditorium in Pune was dedicated to him.
- In 2007, the Government of India released a coin
to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Bal
Gangadhar Tilak.
|
|
<> PROFILE
<> CROSSWORD
<> QUIZ
<> VIDEOS
<> Quiz
on History of the date of his birth <>
Quiz on History of the date of his death <> Quotes
of Bal Gangadhar Tilak <>
Quotes of Freedom & Liberty <>
Book "Indian Home Rule" by M.K. Gandhi <>